For the Kids

In two weeks (Tuesday, May 6 at 8:40 a.m.) the Bear Creek School will have a Parenting Topics and Tips seminar at their Sammamish campus (located just down from MQP at Pine Lake Covenant Church). This talk with be with Kellie Anderson on “How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and Listen So Your Kids Will Talk.” Anyone is welcome to join! Below is the link to register for the event. Registration is free. Register Online: parentingtopics-listen.eventbrite.com

Nocturnal & Diurnal Animals

MOPS Int’l publishes a monthly calendar on their blog. It’s full of great ideas (when you’ve run out of your own) of things to do on any given day, strange days (National Garlic Day anyone?). So, if your short on ideas…try out the MOPS Int’l’s monthly calendar. It can be found on the MOPS Int’l Blog.

But if you’ve never visited the farm before, the produce stand is hardly the end-all-be-all of the farm, though. It’s a farm after all, and that means ANIMALS! Horses, pigs, cats, dogs, chickens, sheep, birds, goats, etc. They also have bounce houses (they do birthday parties incidentally), play houses, have a train to ride, and horseback rides. On a sunny day, there’s truly no better place to hang out with the kids. The farm also sits on a beautiful piece of property backing up to the Issaquah creek (a salmon bearing stream). And, if you’re looking for a killer Easter Egg Hunt, they do that too! Here’s the Easter Egg Hunt Details:

Dates: Saturday, April 19th – 10:00 to 12:00, 1:00 to 3:00, and 4:00 to 6:00

12031 Issaquah Hobart Rd SE, Issaquah Wa, 98027

Banning Bossy While Embracing Ambition

I’m bossy. I always have been. And today, I’m a boss. I’m the founder and CEO of a global and newly public company. And you know what? My bossiness helped get me here.

Except I’d call it leadership.

Growing up, I was very aware of my strengths organizing people, listing out projects, and assigning tasks. At age 5, I was handling the phones for my parents’ business. I was assertive, and my parents needed that and appreciated it.

My tendency toward problem-solving was seen as a good thing and it evolved so that I handled dinner reservations, vacation planning and mediating between my five other siblings. It wasn’t until high school when I realized this leadership style wasn’t appreciated everywhere. And it wasn’t expected of me, simply because I was a girl.

So I appreciate the Ban Bossy campaign (#banbossy) spearheaded by Sheryl Sandberg and the Girl Scouts. If we can get the word “bossy” out of the mouths of parents, friends, teachers and peers, we can make a dent in eliminating the negative connotations of female leadership.

Just imagine: “Your daughter is such a leader.” instead of “Your daughter is so bossy.” A 2008 Girl Scouts survey shows that girls between the ages of 8 and 17 avoid leadership roles for fear that they will be labeled “bossy” or disliked by their peers. And one study Sandberg cites says sixth- and seventh-grade girls said they’d rather be perceived as “popular and well-liked” than “competent and independent.” While their male peers said the opposite.

That’s scary. And heartbreaking.

I believe the role I was able to play at home – how my family embraced and encouraged my natural strengths — helped get me through any high school negativity. I knew I was valuable. I knew I had ideas to offer. I felt this in my core. And so I embraced being bossy….if that’s what they wanted to call it. Because I embraced who I was.

As the CEO of an online care-finding service, I know that the people who influence our children come in all forms: grandparents, day care employees, teachers, nannies, babysitters and parents. So it’s important that we take this village – and teach them – what we value in our children, and how we want to see our daughters thrive. Let’s teach our daughters the same things we teach our sons…to be strong and kind and confident and proud. That their style, spunk, flair, creativity, leadership, unique interests — are huge assets. Everyone might not always like them (not a bad life lesson in and of itself) and that’s OK. Just stay true to who they are because that’s pretty terrific all on its own.

So let’s ban bossy and embrace our ambition, girls. Parents, tell your daughters to cherish their leadership, wit, intelligence, and personal style for getting things done. Teach them to figure out how they blend their style with others’ — but stay true to who they know they really are. These traits should not be stifled. These traits are what will make them the next great leader, entrepreneur, executive, CEO, mother, partner and friend.

Do you upload pictures of your kids to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.?

You may want to watch this video & think twice before doing it again (or at least turn off the location tags on your phone!):

I was recently talking with another MOPS mom about car seats & the LATCH system anchors most of us probably use with our kids car seats. She’d mentioned the anchors had a weight limit & I have to admit the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind! So I went on a search for my own vehicle’s weight restrictions & found it incredibly DIFFICULT to locate! I’m happy to report that upon searching for a long time, I stumbled upon a website that provided nearly EVERY vehicle’s weight limit restrictions and the weight of a lot of popular car seat model’s weight (as you need to consider the weight of your child’s seat in addition to your child’s weight) to know the limit. The new limits were restructured in January of 2013. So, here you go (scroll way down to see the car seat weights):

Remember, when the limit given by the child restraint differs from that given by the vehicle manufacturer, you must abide by the lower limit.

48 lbs., Weight of Child ONLY:
Ford- Model Year 2013 and before ONLY
Lincoln-Modely Year 2013 and before ONLY
Mercury
Saab

No Limit Stated**:
Isuzu
Mazda
Suzuki
Tesla

*When the vehicle manufacturer defers to the child restraint manufacturer and the child restraint manufacturer does not give a limit, I was taught to assume 40 lbs. (weight of child only.) I’m checking to see if this advice still applies or not. So far my responses seem to be a rather nebulous “yes.”

**Similarly, when the vehicle manufacturer does not set a limit I was taught to assume a 40 lbs. child weight limit. I am, similarly, checking to see whether this still applies. Again, so far a nebulous “yes.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Car Seat Weights

*Dorel manufactures child restraints under the Cosco, Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer, Maxi-Cosi, Alpha Elite, Disney, and other brand names. If you don’t see your child restraint listed under one of those brand names, it’s under Dorel. Go by the model name, they’re the same across different brands owned by Dorel.

First weight is weight limit of the child restraint (weight in parenthesis is weight limit of child who may use lower anchors with this child restraint in vehicles specifying a 65 lbs. combined limit.)This is just the math. If the weight listed is higher than that allowed by the child restraint, go by the child restraint. When two weight limits conflict you use the lower weight.

What is a Little Free Library?

It’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share.

There are two LFL’s in Sammamish (none in Issaquah right now)! When I went for the first time (last week), we took 3 books & left 2. Check out the map on the LFL website to locate them & give a book/take a book! The addresses of the two in Sammamish are:

20537 NE 27th Pl. Sammamish, WA

23630 Northeast 7th Court Sammamish, WA 98074

They are both located in the front yard of the homes. The one on 7th Ct even has a flash light inside (brilliant since I was there after dusk) to see the books inside.

It’s almost hard to think about…but if you are planning to enroll your child in preschool for the Fall of 2014, most Plateau schools are doing their registrations in January. If you haven’t thought that far in advance, don’t fret…there’s plenty of time to register & TONS of Plateau preschools. Most preschools start at the age of 3 (typically with a cut-off birthdate as August 31st to qualify).

Mary, Queen of Peace has a preschool (which is part of the St. Joseph School from the Issaquah parish). They, along with most area preschools, have open houses going on this month so you can tour & find the perfect fit. Here’s MQP’s preschool flyer on their open house this month: